The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Dianthus or garden pink that is grown for use as an ornamental container plant. It is known botanically as Dianthus×hybrida and will be referred to hereinafter by the cultivar name ‘Devon Elise’.
‘Devon Elise’ is the product of a breeding program started by the inventor in 1980 in a cultivated area of Houndspool, Dawlish, Devon, United Kingdom. The primary focus of the breeding program is to produce new cultivars of garden pinks that exhibit unique characteristics of flower color and form, and which, preferably, are highly and pleasantly fragrant. In addition, new varieties are selected for being well-proportioned in respect of ratio of overall height (including flower canopy) to overall width. A desirable characteristic of traditional garden pinks is the “pinking”, meaning dentation, of the petal margins, from which the plant name “pink” is derived, rather than the predominant pink coloration to the blooms. The flowers of ‘Devon Elise’ exhibit pronounced and attractive pinking.
‘Devon Elise’ is a chance hybrid plant that was selected in 2000 as a single seedling from a large group (which the inventor designated as Family 9754) of open-pollinated seedlings which itself had resulted from open-pollination of a group of unnamed and unreleased plants of Dianthus from the inventor's large collection of Dianthus. The inventor is unable to identify either the male or the female parent, or to draw comparisons between ‘Devon Elise’ and either parent.
‘Devon Elise’ exhibits blue-green foliage, pink flowers and a compact mounding growth habit. The inventor's variety, Dianthus Plant Named ‘Devon Winnie’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 14,893) exhibits similar blue-green foliage and compact habit. However, when compared with ‘Devon Winnie’ the blooms of ‘Devon Elise’ are lighter in color, tending to pink, with markedly more pronounced dentation of the petal margins. In addition, the blooms of ‘Devon Elise’ are much less double in form (fewer petals in an individual bloom) than the blooms of ‘Devon Winnie’.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar was first accomplished by the inventor in 2000 in a cultivated area of Houndspool, United Kingdom. The method of asexual propagation used was stem cuttings. Since that time the characteristics of the new cultivar have been determined stable and are reproduced true to type in successive generations by vegetative propagation.